more than memories
by Claim The Sky
Summary: Lucifer's not the only one that's let loose when Sam kills Lilith. ..."Does it even still count as an angel if it's only got one wing?"
1. run for the hills

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or Supernatural

This is primarily an adventure story, though it will have a couple slow-building relationships developed over the course of the story and a few already existing pairings. The rating will stay at T throughout.

**Warnings:** slash/shounen ai, swearing, probably some references to sexytimes (though nothing explicit) and violence.

A word of caution: this story is unbetaed, so I'm bound to have some mistakes here and there.

_'Thinking'_

"Talking"

It's barely ten in the morning and Mark already regrets getting up. Covered in mud, sweat and grime he wonders what type of person is insane enough to get up at this time and run. Through a forest. _For_ _two hours_. _'Obviously this crazy bitch'. _

He also wonders why it's him who always gets stuck with the bad cases. The type that requires you to stalk a woman because her husband seems _so_ _sure_ she having an affair on her daily run through one of the most notoriously known overgrown forests in the state _'stupid state parks'_. It's really not fair. The only saving grace is the fact that he'd actually decided to wear runners today.

Such is the life of a private detective.

"Shit!" he clutches at his poor- recently tree abused- eye "fucking trees." Now it seems even the tree's are against him. '_I've never really liked them anyway_. _Don't really see the point in trying to save something that just going to turn around and poke you in the eye.' _

It's an understatement to say that Mark's happy when his _assignment_ finally decides that 'no, its butt doesn't actually look big in those pants and it can stop trying to kill itself',_ 'and consequently me as well'. _

Feeling rather relived he stops a reasonable distance away from the bitch and flops unceremoniously against a tree. He's way too tired to find a better spot for surveillance, but figures it doesn't really matter anyway; the woman's too caught up in her near death experience to care. Why does _he _even need to care? It would probably be a good thing if this woman was having an affair, at least that way they would realize how shit their relationship was and then proceed to cut their losses and run for the hills _'or drive for the hills, I'm never running again in my life.' _

With a reignited sigh he tilts his head back against the tree. The forest's a mixture of not quite deadly looking plants to what looks like some form of man eating plants. '_It's like I'm back at one of my family reunions, all it needs now is aunt Lilies rabid dog-squirrel thing and someone armed with a machete and it'll feel just like home._'

He breaths in deeply and closes his eyes. He's tired, sticky and currently rethinking his choice on becoming a detective_. 'I could probably get a job as an artist of some sort. I've always been good at stabbing paper with a pen'_ he snorts, _'or maybe a kindergarten teacher; I could hit on all the hot mums.'_His musings slowly calm his racing heart. Propped up against a surprisingly soft moss covered tree, his breathing slows down to a tolerable level as his body shuts down from exhaustion. The fact that it's probably not the best idea to sleep on the job when stalking doesn't cross his mind as he drifts off.

* * *

Things were calm. The soft breaths from the dozing detective entwined with the natural music of the forest created a peaceful atmosphere. The heat of the day had subsided and in its wake was a soft glow brought by the sun covered by clouds. Animals seemed to be in an almost meditative state as they rested, and soft shadows were thrown about the ground from the light that managed to penetrate the clouds.

The calm was broken as the shadows drifted from their positions and darkened as a new light source was introduced. The light was a bright luminous green and seemed to move with a life of its own. The sounds of the forest stopped as the wildlife froze and the trees held their breath.

Eyes cranked open, disturbed by the sudden quite and the intrusion of the foreign glow. A green light invaded Mark's vision causing him to quickly shut his unaccustomed eyes. He blinked in an attempt to clear his gaze of the green haze. It didn't leave. The fuzziness of sleep fled from his mind to be replaced by alarm.

"What the hell…" the light was swaying this way and that, the wisps of green gently circling around tree trunks. His wide eyes tracked their path to the pool of water up ahead as the wisps spiraled up from the water. Enthralled by the beautiful sight but still wary of danger, Mark kept low and crawled his way towards the water.

The light rose from the water like evaporating smoke. _'Amazing…' _he watched as the wisps of green formed into small tendrils, their movements like a slow dance of life. The tendrils gained width and soon enough the area was full of the gently moving currents. _'It's like watching the northern lights.' _Mark rose from the ground to reach for the light, but stopped when he felt the sharp aching of his still tired legs. Snapped form his trance, Mark warily stepped back. _'It's always the beautiful things you got to watch out for; I've learnt that lesson well from my ex-girlfriend.'_

Mark retreated to a safe vantage point- a fallen tree trunk 15 meters away-. He saw the movements of the currents lose their gentle sway, the slow dance turning into an erratic display of sharp turns and fast violent movements. Thoughtfully freaked out now and not sure what else to do, he pulled out his phone to record the phenomenon. _'This is either going to be a recording of something awesome or a recording of my death. I really hope it's the first.'_

The light suddenly merged together over the pool in a surge of vibrant green. A ball of light about as big as his torso formed, swirling with its strange brand of life. The water below the light began to ripple, and much like a whirlpool, circled the glowing orb. The wind picked up speed and a low humming tenor resonated around the forest.

Mark nearly dropped his phone when the light rapidly compressed itself, it's size that of a marble, and then promptly exploded outwards in a flash of bright blinding energy. "Fuck!" his eyes started watering, it felt like he'd just stared into the sun for the past hour. With his eyes squeezed shut, all he could feel was the rush of warm air billowing past his face, he could hear the sound of a high pitch ringing and almost sense the energy released around him_. 'And the shit has hit the fan; I really should have high tailed it out of here when I still could. This shits messed up'._

As abruptly as it had happened the commotion stopped. He breathed in deeply to stop his trembling. He was relieved that whatever was happening had stopped, but too scared to open his eyes. _'Fuck! There better be some fucker from scare tactics out there!' After_ a few moments of a mental pump up session he worked up the courage to look.

He was granted with a very blurry scene for his efforts. With a frustrated grunt he quickly rubbed at his still watering eyes. When he opened his eyes again they focused on the fuzzy silhouette of a man. _'Stupid scare tactics asshole'. _He opened his mouth to give the guy the scolding of his life but when his vision cleared the words died in his mouth. _'That's…' _

An angel stood in front of him, a beautiful _one winged_ angel -_'is that how it fell?'- _With ___long_, flowing moonlight silver hair. It was tall, nearly 6'6", clothed in black leather and holding a_ very _sharp looking_ 7 foot long _sword_. _

'_Oh shit, it looks mean'._

As the bright green catlike eyes -green like the wisps and '_are they glowing'_- rose to meet his own in a glare, he broke his own promise to himself and ran for the hills.

* * *

Sephiroth watched as the human fled from his presence. He briefly considered the idea of pursuing the man but thought better of it; his own condition was unknown to him, but the fact the he could barely stand just reinforced the fact that he was in no state to do anything drastic.

With slow painfully drawn out movements he sheathed the Masamune in its scabbard. He'd drawn his sword when he'd found himself in an unfamiliar, possibly dangerous environment. He had though the human would have stayed to confront him, but it was just like all the rest, pathetic. The man had fled, and his senses informed him that there was no danger in the immediate area. Though that didn't stop him from keeping his hand in close range of his weapon, he'd been caught unaware before; the Nibelheim incident with Cloud came to mind.

'_Cloud…you wouldn't have run from me.'_

A wave of dizziness rushed through his head. He staggered forward through the shallow pool of water, one hand flying forward to steady himself against a nearby tree. His nails dung into the bark as agony laced through his body. He gritted his teeth through the pain as his muscles started to spasm. When the pain relinquished its hold on his body he breathed out a sigh of relief and rested his forehead against the cool wood, eyes sliding closed in his exhaustion.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in so much pain; in fact he could barely remember anything at all. Everything after the Nibelheim incident seemed to be a blurred mix of sights, sounds and feelings. Always anger, always a need for revenge, even now he could still remember the all-out frenzy of negative emotions that had churned inside his head. But why had he felt like that? Was it because he had been angry at his death? No, that had just added to his rage but it was not the starting point.

He remembered his disbelief after having just discovered the secret of his birth, being confused, frustrated, tired and completely alone _'Always alone'. And then Mother. _Mother had shown him the truth. She'd shown him what traitors they all were. Betrayed, because of… what they had done. What _had_ they done? He racked his brain for the answer and came up blank. Why? Was it Shinra that had started his rage, his Hate? That he could almost understand, Shinra had taken away his freedom, taken away his Mother, had forced him through pain and suffering and war and…and he had been so _angry_. But it hadn't been just Shinra he had been angry at, it had been everyone, everything, every life ever lived and every life not yet lived. Just life. He didn't understand. He'd relatively content with his life before that incident, he'd known that he was different, he was no idiot, and he'd long ago come to terms with the fact that he had no hope of ever being normal. And it hurt to realize that but that was his life. Finding out that they'd kept his Mother restrained in much the same way they'd done to him shouldn't have made that much of a difference, nor should have finding out the full extent of the experiments. And yet, he'd been angry enough to try and destroy the world. Why?!

He let out a frustrate growl at his lack of knowledge_. 'Mother would know'_. His eyes snapped open as a new though came to him. Where was Mother? She was always there and yet he couldn't feel her. '_She _promised_ she'd always be there, that I'd never be alone._' His eyes closed in concentration as he tried to feel for her presence. Gone. '_I'm always alone'. _Why? Had she lied to him? Did he mean nothing to her? He closed his eyes again to shut out the world, growing increasingly more frustrated the more he searched. There was nothing, no sign or message for him to follow. _'She lied to me.'_ He snarled in rage and swung at the tree, barely noticing as the tree was uprooted and propelled into another.

Reining in his rage he stood ridged in amongst the trees, staring at the tree he had felled. Was everything she had said a lie. Who should be named the traitor if not her? She had betrayed his trust in a way not even Shinra had; no, he had never trusted Shinra. But her, he had relied on her in a way he never had Shinra, believed her in a way he never had before, and she had deserted him_._

'_Is this the curse of a monster, to always be alone?' _he clenched his fists at the thought, the leather creaking from the pressure. Ironically enough this was the first time in his life he had ever been truly free, and all it brought him was a feeling of emptiness. _'Is this the price for freedom? Do I even want freedom if it means this?' _no, no he didn't want this, there had to be something else. He closed his eyes in a last ditch attempt.

He almost sighed in relief when he sensed something. Something that had always been there reluctantly or not. Its presence was small and fragile, but still it always managed to surprise him_._

'_Cloud…'_

Cloud was here. Sephiroths' eyes snapped open, their green colour flaring with life. This time he wouldn't just be a memory. _'This time I wouldn't be alone.'_ He'd make sure of it.


	2. laser lights

'_All hell has just literally broken loose and it was my fault.'_ Sam let out a frustrated groan. Dean had told him not to listen to Ruby, but just like the mess up he was he'd turned to demons over his brother. What kind of person does that? There's no way he can expect to be forgiven after being the one to let the _Devil _free. Nothing can change the fact that it _he_ had been the one to ultimately kick start the end of the world_. 'And Dean, what does he think of me now?'_

Sam turned to his brother "Dean-"

"Sam" Dean turned away for him," it's okay. You don't have to say anything. "

"Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? 'I'm sorry?' 'I screwed up?' Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right-"

"So why do you keep bringing it up?!"

Sam sighed_ 'stop denying the fact that I'm a monster dean' _but he doesn't say it, _can't _say it_._ Dean turned back to him.

"Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it"

Sam nodded to appease Dean even though he knew what he really meant to say. _'And I can't blame him. Dean always has to clean up _my_ messes; I just wish I'd do something right for once.'_

"All right," Dean paused to consider his words "so, say this is just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?"

"We'd, uh, figure out where the thing is."

"All right. So we just got to find… the devil." But even as he said it, Dean was aware that this was probably one of the stupidest plans he'd come up with.

**MOTEL**

Sam rubbed his eyes and tried to refocus on the blurring words of John's journal. After a few more unfocused squints at the book he gave into his frustration and abandoned the book on the table, and instead reached for the laptop.

"Finally given up on finding anything in dad's journal or are you just taking a break for porn?" Dean punctuates his remark with a teasing grin.

Sam rolls his eyes at his brother as he boots up the laptop. "Dad's got nothing in his journal about taking down the devil- and honestly I'm not surprised- so I figured I might as well check the internet".

"Honestly Sammy, I'm your brother, you don't need to lie about doing work."

Sam smiles at his brother's antics but didn't turn around to acknowledge the comment.

An hour passes as the brother's fall into a comfortable silence, the only sound in the room is the sound of the TV and Sam's quick typing. Dean was in the process of locating food in the mini barwhen Sam calls him over.

"Did you actually find something Sammy?"Dean's voice had a tone of disbelief in it; he really hadn't expected Sam to find anything.

"I think I might have… it's just strange." Sam offered in a contemplative voice. "It might just be one big coincidence, but somehow it doesn't feel that way."

Dean reached Sam's side and took a peek at the screen. It was opened on a single video but Dean could see several more video tabs at the top of the screen. Dean grinned perversely at his brother, who responded by giving him a shove on the shoulder. Some days Sam really wondered about Deans gutter mind, it can't be healthy.

"Some guy named Mark Bryant - he's a private investigator of some kind- uploaded this video taken on his phone. It's supposed to be some video of an angel sighting-"

Dean interjected "which isn't really that uncommon, people upload these types of fake videos all the time."

"But Dean, what really makes this video stand out is when and where it was taken. Do you see the time at the top of the video feed," Dean nods to confirm he's listening but he still seems skeptical "Dean, that's the same time I killed Lilith." His voice turned morose "The same time Lucifer was set free."

Dean flinched but ignored the comment. "I still don't see what's got you so worked up. So what if some guy uploads an angel sighting video at the same time Luci got free. Yeah it's weird, but not impossible."

"That's not the only thing. _Where _this video was taken is what really gets me."

Dean looks at the description of the video "A state park?" he gives his brother a skeptical look

"Do you remember the column of light that erupted from the ground when Lucifer was set free?" Dean grimaced at the memory, how could he forget that experience when it had ended up with him developing a fear of planes. "Well I thought it might help to do a little research on it. I checked satellite reports, news feeds, anything I could find."Sam clicked on one of the numerous video tabs and brought up another video feed. "Watch this."

The video was taken on a home brand recorder at night. It began to replay a child's birthday party, and for a moment Dean was struck with the thought of what it would have been like to of had a normal childhood. The thought was dropped when commotion broke out on the video. For a couple of seconds all Dean could see was the jarring blur of camera moment and the sound of excited kids and concerned parents. The video refocused when the cameraman pointed the feed at the source of the commotion. The column of blinding light piercing the night sky didn't come as a surprise to Dean; it was exactly as he'd remembered it, what really made Dean gape was the fact that in the distance to the left of the first column of light was another even larger green column. The sight sent Dean reeling.

"There's two…"There were two columns of energy. '_What…?'_

Sam grinned at Dean's flabbergasted expression "I already knew the first column came from St Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland, but I had no idea about the second." He changed the screen back to the first recording "well that _was_ the case, until I found this. That's where this video comes in."

"The grist mill trail at Patapsco valley state park," Dean sends Sam an inquiring look "it's where this video was taken. Watch."

The brothers' lapse into silence again as the video starts up.

The recording was almost crystal clear, the phone's camera was obviously good quality. The scene the brothers were privy to is an unusual sight, even for them. Erratic ribbons of glowing green energy twist and swirl through the air. It doesn't take long for Dean to find out why Sam's so intent on this video; the green light is following much the same shape as Lucifer's unraveling sigil.

The pattern of the seal starts to break up and merge into a large swirling green ball. The light holtsmost of its movement when it's positioned in the center of a small body of water, the green light still left floating around the trees slowly bleeds into smoky black colour.

"What is that?" Dean takes a stab in the dark "ectoplasm?"

Sam surged his shoulders. He had no clue.

Nothing but tree's surround the area, the sound of the churning water is the only thing to break the silence; the video recorder is obviously alone. Dean wonders what must be going through the poor guys head at that moment.

The video's sound crackles as the wind picks up speed and a low humming tenor resonates around the forest. The ball shrinks and suddenly the foreboding feeling in Dean's stomach makes sense.

It explodes outwards in a burst of surprisingly bright blinding energy. Dean blinks his eye's to recover from the flash, and scowls at his brother who'd already had his eyes closed. _'Bitch. He could have told me that would happen.'_

The brothers watch as the video feed starts jumping all over the place, most likely caused from the swearing video recorder nearly dropping the phone. _'I'm surprised his flight reflexes haven't kicked in yet.' _Dean contemplates this fact._ 'He's either brave or stupid… maybe both.'_

The camera feed is angled away from the commotion, but even so the brother's still see leaves, twigs, branches and the scraps of the strange energy rushing past the feed _'that wind must be _strong_'_.

Dean had to fight back his automatic reflex to cover his ears when the familiar high pitch ringing started _'this is _definitely_ more than just a coincidence'. _

As abruptly as it had started the commotion stopped.Dean's foreboding feeling returned tenfold. After a few moments the video feed stops shaking, and the sound of the recorders breathing returns to normal.

Dean was about to start questioning Sam about his theories on the video when the sound of a quite gasp brought his attention back to the video.

His eyes widened"Holy shit."

Sam paused the clip on the image of the one winged angel.

The room was silent as Dean inspected the image on the screen "Does it even still count as an angel if it's only got one wing?"

"Probably. It could also be the mark of a fallen angel. But then again, I'm just guessing here."

"Cas would know"

"I tried to contact him before, he's not answering" Sam noticed the disappointment flash across his brother face, but decided not to say anything. Instead he enlarged the image. "Its eye's are glowing the same green as that light. We should probably ask Bobby if he knows something"

"I'll call him, but before that I just gotta ask, is that angel wearing leather?" Sam gave his brother an amused look, but nodded anyway. "awesome".

Dean's hunt for the Mobil phone was interrupted by a knock at the door. The brothers shared a look, silently communicating. Dean reached for a gun instead of a phone as Sam made his way to the door.

He was greeted with the sight of an overly excited women in her 20's. In fact, she was so exited it looked like she was having trouble breathing.

"You okay, lady?" Sam decided it was probably better to ask a simple question, he really didn't want to get her anymore worked up. Unfortunately for him, today just wasn't his day.

"Sam...is it really you?" the awe in her voice was almost tangible.

San glanced back at Dean; the look on his face was the typical look a younger brother sent to an older brother when they were lost. As per status quo, Dean followed the path of most big brothers and decided to sit back, relax, and watch the show.

Dean had to fight back a snicker when the women stepped closer and put a hand on Sam's chest.

As if that wasn't alarming enough for Sam the display of affection was followed up with the women whimsically stating "And you're so firm." Sam tried not to fidget.

"Uh, do I know you?" Sam was almost tempted to run, but settled for reasoning instead. The women pulled back, but Sam continues to stare, bewildered.

"No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're-" her eyes quickly scan the room. Dean tightens his grip on the gun hidden behind his back when her eager gaze falls on him. She pauses and frowns, disappointed"-not what I pictured. I'm Becky."

Becky pushes past Sam and strides into the room. She continues to talk "I read all about you guys. And I've even written a few-"she glances down, giggling a little. "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were."

Dean stood up. "Chuck?"

Sam snapped out of his bewilderment and closed the door.

"He's got a message," she stated "but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old."

Sam tried to steer the conversation back onto normal grown. Or as normal as life gets for them. "Right. Just, um...what's the message?"

"He had a vision. Well he had two visions but he says this one's more important. The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it."

"The Michael sword?" Dean asked, suddenly very interested in what Becky was saying.

Sam had the same reaction "Becky, does he know where it is?"

She smiles, obviously elated with her task. "In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs." She waves her hands in a way that was obviously an attempt to look mystical. She fails.

"Forty-two dogs?" asked Dean, suddenly not too sure if they should have gotten their hopes up.

"Are...you sure you got that right?" Sam wasn't sure about what to think anymore.

"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said." Said Becky, disheartened that her information wasn't received as well as she thought, but decided it didn't matter because she was in the room with the Winchesters! She steps closer to Sam. "I memorized every word." She touches his chest "For you."

Sam glanced over at Dean and then down at Becky. He decided to do something before the situation got anymore more awkward. "Um, Becky, c—uh, can you...quit touching me?"

"No."

**A/N:**

**Okay if you haven't already figured it out this story is set in the supernatural universe, season five starting from the first episode ****"Sympathy for the Devil".**

**This story will be loosely following the series although I'm going to be more focused on how the final fantasy character change the supernatural universe so I'll be skipping or just not including a lot of the supernatural storyline.**

**Note:**

**The grist mill trail at patapsco valley state park is actually a real trail. It's along Ilchester road and pretty close to the St Mary's Monastery Ruins (****There is a St Mary's College in Ilchester, Maryland, known as the Hell House which they based St Mary's Convent off. Although I'm not sure if the ****St Mary's Monastery Ruins has anything to do with that…meh****)**


End file.
